The Canadian Media Guild today asked the Minister of Labour to appoint a “conciliation commissioner” to assist the union and the CBC in reaching a negotiated collective agreement.

The Guild took the action in response to a request made by the CBC last week for the appointment of a conciliation “officer.” The main difference between the two is that the report from the commissioner at the end of the process can be made public. We have asked the CBC to join our application and the Corporation is now considering our invitation.

In our letter to the Minister of Labour, we set out the reasons for this change in the conciliation process.

“We believe the final report of the commissioner should be made public. The CBC is a public trust. The potential for a major work disruption is significant and it is our view that public disclosure around the issues in dispute would be useful in encouraging the parties to bargain responsibly.

“The parties have been bargaining for more than a year to reach what could best be described as a first collective agreement. A new single bargaining unit was created (that) represents about 5,000 employees in CBC’s English services. The issues are complicated on their own merit. The proposed introduction of new pay scales and classifications following a seven-year long ?job evaluation’ process is adding to the complexity.”

The Minister of Labour has until May 23, 2005 to make the appointment.

Your bargaining committee:
Arnold Amber, Toronto
Pierre Claveau, Vancouver
Brendan Elliott, Charlottetown
Percy Hatfield, Windsor
Joe Hill, Toronto
Wendy Hunt, Toronto
Gerry Jones, Regina
Barbara Saxberg, Toronto
Lee Siemon, Toronto
Chris Turner, Fredericton
Rick Warren, Vancouver
Dan Oldfield, Senior CMG staff representative